Buckeye Current - Build Thread

Hey guys,

I have been meaning to create this thread for a while now to share our builds and experiences, finally got around to it.

I have slyly mentioned this in passing and to some other members, but I am the Technical Team Lead of the Buckeye Electric Motorcycle Race Team at The Ohio State University. Our team was founded 2 years ago by myself and Sean Ewing with the help of our founding sponsors Lawless Industries and Aaron Equipment. In our first year RW1, our first machine, was created due in large part to Sean. We set an ECTA (East Coast Timing Association) electric motorcycle speed record of 112.349mph. This second year myself and other new teams leads took over and attempted to refine RW1 and compete in the 2012 season. This initially involved finding a limiting issue in our controller, replacing a dying cell, getting familiar with the machine and restructuring the team. If only it was that simple.

Through the winter we stripped the bike down to trim some fat from the aluminum battery boxes. During this process we actually found electrolyte inside one of the battery boxes. Here is what the box looked like. That is aluminum and abs material

We were unable to determine which cell had failed and ended up removing the entire 8s subgroup because the electrolyte actually started to eat away both the external clear coat and aluminum pouch of multiple battery cells. This was the beginning of our battery issues, I’ll illustrate the rest of the year later.

Later in the summer I will try to share more about what we are working on for our next machine. We have just finished our planning phase and are jumping into initial designs now. Hoping to have a full build plan by the end of August.

will you guys be at the throttle nations ECTA event in ohio? i think i will be there with the ELECTRACUTIONER and maybe the PREDATOR as well as i'm pretty sure it will go over 200mph if shawn wants to go with me. would be fun to have a couple of elmotos there.

will you guys be at the throttle nations ECTA event in ohio? i think i will be there with the ELECTRACUTIONER and maybe the PREDATOR as well as i'm pretty sure it will go over 200mph if shawn wants to go with me. would be fun to have a couple of elmotos there.

We are attempting to make it to that event. In order to race RW1, I am coordinating some loaner batteries to use to help us beat our own record (112). My electric R6 will hopefully be there too, not to race but we'll see what happens.

It would be pretty awesome to see your bike go over 200! It would be even cooler if you went over 218 and set the outright (unofficial) record.

We plan to increase the serviceability and safety of the bike. Most of this will involve developing battery modules that are easily handled, easily installed, and <50V bricks so we don't need HV gloves to work on them. Additionally more time will go into testing cells and packs before they go into full use.

Performance wise we want to bring the weight down first and foremost. Aiming for <500lbs and this is definitely possible. This weight be removed from both the batteries and the motor, and in small increments around the bike (wiring, bodywork, mounts, etc.). We also want to decrease the amount HV wiring. Copper is heavy, adds resistance, and costs a lot. Those are all bad things. Ideal bussing layout is key and not to difficult of a task to achieve. As Motoczysz said in an interview on MotoPod, it's all about the efficiency of the whole system on an electric machine. That's what we are trying to achieve.

Right now we have narrow our battery choice to three cells and others lined up behind these if needed. Initial pack designs are in the works. Two different motors are being considered at the moment, both are very similar except in cost. At this point in time we are considering using the same Tritium controller to keep cost and complexity down on our machine for 2013. Work is being done in other areas of the bike as including BMS, battery framing, and bodywork. We are not 100% sure of which chassis we will go with for next year, but we will not be attempting a custom frame yet.

Yep the seat height was actually raised about 2in and the tank is about 4in higher to accommodate all those cells

Just got our loaner batteries today. Install is going to be a little bit trickier than originally thought, but plenty of room. Will most likely make a quick and dirty tank box to fit half of them. Work will start on Saturday getting them in and tests early next week.